TRANSCRIPT 🔗
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Kia ora, welcome to The Cleine Line. I'm Jamie Cleine, Mayor of Buller,
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and this podcast is a place for honest conversations about local government,
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life on the coast, and everything in between.
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This isn't the official Council line, it's my personal take,
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with no spin, no script, just open reflections on what's happening in our communities,
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around the Council table, and yeah, sometimes from the halls of Parliament too.
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In this episode, we're diving into the local government elections,
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why they matter, how councils actually affect your daily life,
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the challenges and opportunities across the sector, and why working with central
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government is so important.
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We'll also zoom in on Buller, the key issues, the personalities, and the contest.
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And to finish, I'm going to spend some time on something that hasn't always
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had the attention it deserves,
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putting the port in Westport, why it's not just an old relic by the river,
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but one of the most strategically important pieces of infrastructure we've got.
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So buckle in, this is going to be a slightly longer episode,
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but I reckon it's one worth sticking with.
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Music.
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First off, voting. Local elections are often treated like the boring cousin
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of the national election.
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Turnout hovers around 40-50%, meaning less than half of us are deciding who
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sets the rates, runs our local services, and advocates for us at a national level.
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And here's the thing, councils have more impact on your day-to-day life than
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parliament does most weeks.
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They're the ones who decide whether your rubbish gets picked up,
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whether your street gets resealed, whether your local swimming pool stays open.
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If central government is like the helicopter circling above,
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local government is the boots on the ground, dealing with the potholes,
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literally and figuratively.
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So when you don't vote, you're basically saying, I'm fine letting someone else
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decide what happens with my rates, my services, my town.
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Which, let's be honest, is a bit like leaving your wallet at the bar and saying,
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help yourselves, I trust you.
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Now yes, I have to say the voting process itself isn't exactly flashy.
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It's a postal vote, which in 2025 makes us feel like we've literally gone back in time.
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Everything else in life happens on your phone. You can renew your passport,
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pay your bills, even order a curry without leaving the couch. But to vote locally?
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Nope, you need a pen, an envelope, and a trip to the postbox.
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On the upside, it's actually dead easy once you get over the novelty.
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The papers arrive, you open them, you tick the boxes, you seal the envelope,
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and you pop it in the red postbox.
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And no, those red boxes around town aren't just quirky street furniture,
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they do still get emptied.
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And this year, for the first time, there's also boxes at council and most supermarkets
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where you can cast your votes as well.
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Think of it this way, by the time you've scrolled TikTok for 10 minutes,
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you could have voted and put it in the mail, so there really is no excuses.
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A lot of people underestimate how much councils shape daily life.
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If your water runs, if your street lights work, if your kids have a playground
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to go to, that's all local government.
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If your rates go up, yep, that's them too.
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It's not glamorous, but it's crucial. Local government is the wiring behind the walls.
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You don't think about it when it works, but when it goes wrong,
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suddenly everyone's an expert.
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Across the local government sector, the big challenges are essentially the same.
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Infrastructure, climate resilience, and affordability. Councils are trying to
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keep up ageing assets with limited revenue tools.
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Rates are the main lever, and nobody wants to pay more. But nobody wants their
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water pipes bursting either.
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Add in climate change on top, more floods, more slips, more erosion,
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communities like ours on the coast are on the front line.
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Councils have to plan, but not just for today, but for the next 50 years,
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and that's certainly no easy task.
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But there are also opportunities, digital tools, renewable energy projects,
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stronger iwi council
Load full transcript
partnerships, and new funding models.
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But all of it relies on one thing, trust and collaboration with central government.
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And that relationship has been, let's say, bumpy at times.
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Music.
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Closer to home, the coast has three districts and one region.
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Buller, Grey and Westland, and the West Coast Regional Council.
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Each has its own politics, its own budget, and its own headaches.
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But here's the truth. We're too small to be divided.
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If Buller was pulling in one way and Grey pulling another, we lose.
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Wellington loves nothing more than a divided region. It makes it so easy to
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say, come back when you've sorted yourselves out.
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But when we stand united, we punch above our weight. And we have seen that with
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flood recovery, with infrastructure bids, and with tourism promotion.
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United, we can do things. Divided, we're just three small towns shouting into the wind.
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Now let's talk ports. For most people, the Port of Westport is something you
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either drive past on the way to Cardiff Beach, or you just know it's over the
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back of the shops down Palmerston Street. but it's a whole lot more than that.
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Back in the day, Westport was one of the busiest ports in New Zealand.
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Coal, timber, gold, all headed out over the Bulla River Bar.
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These days, the traffic is definitely lighter, but the principle is still the same. It's a gateway.
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Every load of fish that's landed in Westport, or every load of sand or rock
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that leaves Westport, supports contractors, drivers, and many families right
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across the Buller district.
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And when disaster strikes, ports really matter.
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In the 2021 floods, we saw just how fragile our connections are.
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Many roads blocked with slips everywhere, bridges closed. Suppliers had to come around the long way.
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Now imagine AF8, the Alpine Fault, where the South Island will literally snap.
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Roads, they'll be gone in places. Rail, certainly twisted, and airports may also be damaged too.
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In that moment, the port isn't just handy, it's essential. It's how fuel,
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food, and emergency crews will get in.
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Then there's the Midland Line, and it's certainly our export artery,
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but it's also a single point of failure.
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We've seen it closed by slips for weeks, by derailments, by weather.
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Now scale that up to an earthquake and it could be out for years.
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Without a port, we'd be stuck. With a port, we've got options to move coal,
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to ship in supplies, and to keep the economy ticking even at a reduced speed.
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Here's the funny thing. Coastal shipping has suddenly got cool again.
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After decades of being written off, people are realising it's a low-carbon,
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resilient and practical option.
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And ports like Westport could be a part of that future.
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Successive governments now have had contestable funds to support the development
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of coastal shipping around New Zealand.
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Both Westport and Greymouth ports have taken advantage of that.
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And the current government too has a 30 million Contestable Fund to further
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support investments into resilience to support coastal shipping at ports all
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around New Zealand, an opportunity that Grey,
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Buller and the West Coast Regional Council will be continuing to work on this term.
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They do this investment because they see the strategic importance of coastal
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shipping both for resilience,
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economic opportunity and an ability to deliver freight and goods around New
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Zealand while managing the carbon footprint of New Zealand's transport fleet.
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Westport people understand this instinctively. We know what it's like to be cut off.
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We've all seen the gorge closed after slips, and we've all seen how quickly
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the shelves clear out at New World when the trucks can't get through.
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Having a port is like having an insurance policy. You hope you never cash in,
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but you're glad that you've got it there.
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So next time someone says, what's the point of having a port?
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The answer is simple. It's jobs, it's resilience, and it's survival.
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And when AF8 hits, it may be the most valuable asset we've got.
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Music.
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And this is where the central local relationship comes in again,
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because the government understands keeping a port viable takes investment.
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It takes recognition from Wellington that resilience isn't just a buzzword,
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it's concrete, steel and wharves.
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It's lifelines like the port of Westport that turn words into reality.
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This is why the National Emergency Management Agency
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invested in a piece of brand new wharf in Westport and the Regional Infrastructure
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Fund recently approved the development of a roll-on roll-off facility to further
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enhance the resilience and usability of Westport port when disaster strikes.
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So how does all this tie back to the election? Well, in Buller,
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voters are choosing who's going to front these arguments.
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Who's going to walk into a beehive office and say, actually,
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Minister, here's why this matters to Buller.
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And that often means linking the government's strategy to a local strategy to
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really convince them that this is an important investment, not only for Buller,
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but for the region or for New Zealand as a whole.
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The big issues are clear. flood recovery, economic diversification,
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infrastructure, housing, and yes, resilience assets such as the port.
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The contest is about which candidates people trust to deliver,
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to advocate, and to get us through the next three years.
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Local elections aren't just about today's rates bill or whether the recycling
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bin gets picked up on time.
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They're about the kind of community
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we choose to be. Do we invest in each other or do we drift apart?
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Do we plan for the long haul or do we leave it all to chance?
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Every vote is a statement of belonging. A way of saying, this is my place and
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these are my people and I care about what happens here.
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On the coast, we've always known how to dig in, to look after one another and
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find an opportunity where many others see only struggle.
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And yes, I know popping your ballot in the postbox doesn't feel like some grand
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historic moment, but that little tick is more powerful than you think.
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It's a small act of hope, one that, when joined with thousands of others,
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shapes the future of Buller.
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Because the people you elect locally don't just make decisions about pipes and
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roads, they're also your voice to the rest of New Zealand.
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They're the ones walking into the beehive, into the boardrooms or onto national
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media, saying here's who we are, here's what we need, and here's why the Buller matters.
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Choosing that voice carefully is one of the most important decisions you'll
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ever make for your community.
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So don't leave those papers under the takeaway menus.
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Fill them in, drop them in the
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ballot box, and have a quiet smile knowing you've done your little bit.
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Because if we all do that, then whatever challenges come our way,
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be they floods, slips, or even AF8, we'll face them together with the kind of
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grit and good humour that's always defined us.
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That's it for this episode thanks for listening to
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the client line this podcast is here to spark conversation
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share a bit of insight and shine a light on the things that matter to bulla
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but i also want to hear what matters to you if there's an issue you'd like my
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thoughts on someone in the community we should feature or a topic you think
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deserves some airtime send me an email jamie@theclineline.com.
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I'll be back next time with more updates, reflections and what's been happening around the district.
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Until then, thanks for tuning in and we'll talk again soon.
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Music.